Leanne Pero: How cancer affects Black women in Ghana
Leanne Pero: How cancer affects Black women in Ghana
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While Churchill Fellowships focus on learning from other countries and introducing change into the UK, sometimes the transfer of learning can also flow in the opposite direction.
This was the case with the 2023 Fellowship of Leanne Pero MBE, who travelled to Ghana to explore how cancer affects women there compared to Black women in the UK.
Inspiration for a Churchill Fellowship
Leanne was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 30, in 2016. Her mother had twice had the disease, so Leanne was knowledgeable about what support was available – however, she found this wasn’t the case for other women of colour.
“What I found among young Black women with cancer, was they were really struggling. Sometimes their families didn’t want to be around them because they thought the cancer was catching. There were also a lot of unhelpful religious myths and taboos engrained in communities around cancer.
“At the same time, I found mainstream hospital support groups were mainly older and white women – they were lovely, but they weren’t providing Black women with the support they needed.”
From this experience, Leanne created a support group. This grew exponentially to become Black Women Rising, which is part of Leanne’s charity, The Leanne Pero Foundation, supporting people of colour, cancer patients, and cancer survivors.
"I never thought the trip would have the profound effect on me that it did. I would never have been able to do this without the Fellowship."
Fellowship travels to Ghana
In 2022, Leanne was inspired by a Ghanaian woman in her support group to apply for her Churchill Fellowship.
In the UK, a Black African woman is 71% more likely to be diagnosed in late stage cancer and twice as likely to die. Leanne wanted to find out what the situation was for West African women.
Outcomes for Ghanaian women are also poor, and with no free medical service, they need insurance or a sponsor to fund treatment. What Leanne found, however, was a wealth of community support wrapped around cancer patients.
“We visited four locations and got to do so much – we met cancer patients, we met medical teams, we spoke at schools. We found surgeons played an active role in education, so they would go out in the community leading on patient engagement.”
Leanne came across many community-led initiatives, but these were all operating independently rather than as a cohesive force. So she organised an event at the British High Commission, to bring groups together.
“One thing we do in the UK well is collaborate, so I was able to promote the idea of working together, to help get better outcomes for patients.”
Putting a Fellowship experience on film
Back in the UK, Leanne attracted sponsorship to create a documentary film. She has since returned to Ghana and screened the film at an event for the organisations she had visited. She found those collaborations that she inspired have continued.
“This biggest thing I have brought back to the UK is gratitude for what we have here and the need to continuously have this dialogue around Black women in cancer care. I never thought the trip would have the profound effect on me that it did. I would never have been able to do this without the Fellowship.”
This was the case with the 2023 Fellowship of Leanne Pero MBE, who travelled to Ghana to explore how cancer affects women there compared to Black women in the UK.
Inspiration for a Churchill Fellowship
Leanne was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 30, in 2016. Her mother had twice had the disease, so Leanne was knowledgeable about what support was available – however, she found this wasn’t the case for other women of colour.
“What I found among young Black women with cancer, was they were really struggling. Sometimes their families didn’t want to be around them because they thought the cancer was catching. There were also a lot of unhelpful religious myths and taboos engrained in communities around cancer.
“At the same time, I found mainstream hospital support groups were mainly older and white women – they were lovely, but they weren’t providing Black women with the support they needed.”
From this experience, Leanne created a support group. This grew exponentially to become Black Women Rising, which is part of Leanne’s charity, The Leanne Pero Foundation, supporting people of colour, cancer patients, and cancer survivors.
"I never thought the trip would have the profound effect on me that it did. I would never have been able to do this without the Fellowship."
Fellowship travels to Ghana
In 2022, Leanne was inspired by a Ghanaian woman in her support group to apply for her Churchill Fellowship.
In the UK, a Black African woman is 71% more likely to be diagnosed in late stage cancer and twice as likely to die. Leanne wanted to find out what the situation was for West African women.
Outcomes for Ghanaian women are also poor, and with no free medical service, they need insurance or a sponsor to fund treatment. What Leanne found, however, was a wealth of community support wrapped around cancer patients.
“We visited four locations and got to do so much – we met cancer patients, we met medical teams, we spoke at schools. We found surgeons played an active role in education, so they would go out in the community leading on patient engagement.”
Leanne came across many community-led initiatives, but these were all operating independently rather than as a cohesive force. So she organised an event at the British High Commission, to bring groups together.
“One thing we do in the UK well is collaborate, so I was able to promote the idea of working together, to help get better outcomes for patients.”
Putting a Fellowship experience on film
Back in the UK, Leanne attracted sponsorship to create a documentary film. She has since returned to Ghana and screened the film at an event for the organisations she had visited. She found those collaborations that she inspired have continued.
“This biggest thing I have brought back to the UK is gratitude for what we have here and the need to continuously have this dialogue around Black women in cancer care. I never thought the trip would have the profound effect on me that it did. I would never have been able to do this without the Fellowship.”